Hard drive constantly running and ruining battery life

Hello,
I recently got an x200s from a legit ebay lenovo seller that came with an upgraded 500gb 7200rpm hard drive.
The problem is that the hard drive is running at All times. I can tell from the sound as well as slight vibration. Even with the lowest power settings, and just letting it idle, it runs. I tried playing with the power manager, and having the hard drive stop activity after 30 seconds of inactivity, it keeps running. I turned off indexing on the c as well as the lenovo back up drive, its still running. The hard drive activity light is only flickering, and the processes seem totally normal. What is up?
I'd say this also has to be the reason i'm only getting like 2 hours with the 4 cell and very low power settings, which is unacceptable.
Any thoughts?
Thanks guys

Nah...if you choose a less-than-sensible setting in BIOS, an arm holding a hammer will come out of the LCD and smack you...that's a part of ThinkVantage that only a few people know about...
How many processes do you have running on a freshly booted machine?
Cheers,
George
In daily use: R60F, R500F, T61, T410
Collecting dust: T60
Enjoying retirement: A31p, T42p,
Non-ThinkPads: Panasonic CF-31 & CF-52, HP 8760W
Starting Thursday, 08/14/2014 I'll be away from the forums until further notice. Please do NOT send private messages since I won't be able to read them. Thank you.

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Why is my hard drive constantly running and how do I stop it?

My hard drive is running constantly and I can't find out why. I thought my hard drive might be at capacity so I threw away and backed up a lot of stuff, but it is still running all the time.
On a PC I know how to find what is actually running behind the scenes and how to stop them, but I don't know how to find those same programs on a mac. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks

On a PC I know how to find what is actually running behind the scenes and how to stop them, but I don't know how to find those same programs on a mac.
Open Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.
With that, all processes can be seen, all CPU, memory and drive use can be monitored and any and all processes can be monitored, sampled, halted, etc.
My hard drive is running constantly and I can't find out why.
A new drive will have indexing running continually until the indexing is done.
mdworker is one of the indexing processes.
Are your Energy Saver Preferences set to spin down hard drives when possible?

Hard drive constantly running with Lightroom 6

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Nah...if you choose a less-than-sensible setting in BIOS, an arm holding a hammer will come out of the LCD and smack you...that's a part of ThinkVantage that only a few people know about...
How many processes do you have running on a freshly booted machine?
Cheers,
George
In daily use: R60F, R500F, T61, T410
Collecting dust: T60
Enjoying retirement: A31p, T42p,
Non-ThinkPads: Panasonic CF-31 & CF-52, HP 8760W
Starting Thursday, 08/14/2014 I'll be away from the forums until further notice. Please do NOT send private messages since I won't be able to read them. Thank you.

I bought my 15" macbook pro i7 just a year ago and my battery life runs out extremely quick..at fully charged it says I only have 2:27 of usage time. I didn't pay for that-what can I do about it? I do have Apple care. Thanks.

I bought my 15" macbook pro just a year ago and my battery life runs out extremely quickly. This started maybe a month or two ago. Its hard to tell. I only noticed the rapid change recently. Fully charged it says I have 2:27 (2 hours and 27 minutes) of usage time...with about 50% screen and keyboard brightness.
I've checked inside system preferences and its cycle count is 261 and full charging cap is 6316.
I have apple care...is this something i can/need to take up with apple. You'd think if you pay the price for these machines you should get mroe use out of them.
ONLY A YEAR I'VE HAD THIS!
My PC lasted 4 years before the battery showed signs this dramatic of wear.
Any help is appreciated, im new mac owner. thanks.

do you have a mbp with dual video cards? running the system with the higher end card increases the heat and also drains batt power.
i have the 1st gen unibody (2008) with an original removable battery of 311 cycles and 4453 charge. under normal use ill be happy to get 1.5hrs. the mac battery counter thing says i have 3.3hrs though (whatever). compared to me, i think you use your battery more than i do, perhaps its the reason why it degraded so fast in a year?

Hard drive is running very hard and warm

I recently had a hard drive issue with my mac book pro and basically had to erase everything and then restore all my files from Carbonite. I have now restored all of my files and I think Carbonite is now rebacking those up, but in the mean time my hard drive is running very hard and causing my lap top to get very warm. Is this normal? Is it because of the back up/restore? Or is there something wrong with my fan or hard drive?

Install iStat pro (from the Internet) and open it. It will show you the internal temperatures of your MBP and the fan speeds. Also open Activity Monitor to compare the internal CPU activity with the iStat pro data. Post both for an evaluation.
Since you have suspicions regarding your HDD, make certain that you do have backups. You might open Disk Utility>First Aid and 'Verify Disk'.
Ciao.

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Hi. My iMac hard drive is running Mavericks. I have an old version of Quark Xpress (3.32) which won't run in Mavericks. Can I partition my hard drive and run an older system on one partition, so I can access my Quark? Is that possible?

Hi ancelau,
QuarkXPress 3 is a Classic Mac OS application, so you need a version of OS X that still supports Classic. I believe 10.4 was the last one.
So if you have an iMac that boots with 10.4, then yes that is possible. I doubt though that newer Macs boot with OS X 10.4.
So why don't you upgrade QuarkXPress 3 to a newer version? I am not just asking that because I want you to spend money with us.
Typically using software that was released almost 20 years ago is just feasible when you keep an environment that was current at the time of release or a few years after, so an older Mac with a operating system present at that time. 20 years in IT is a lot.
So my opinion is that on a new Mac with a brand new operating system you need to use something a bit more current.
How about QuarkXPress 9 (released 3 years ago) or QuarkXPress 10? You are better off with v9, as QuarkXPress 10 only opens v7 and higher (whereas QuarkXPress 9 opens v3.1 and higher).
Or - I am even happy to make an exception - upgrade to 9 and we give you 10 for free? Let me know please.
Thanks
Matthias

Hi I replaced my hard drive on macbook and I want to install mac osx10.5 with the CD that came with the macbook. When I run the CD after a while I get the page showing language options for 2 second then a gray screen appears and nothing happens

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Try a new post in the 10.5 Installation forum.
DALE

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I am running Snow Leopard on my iMac and have partitioned my hard drive to run Windows XP. If I upgrade to Yosemite, will I still be able to run XP?

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bobfromnorth battleford wrote:
...Now what happens if I upgrade to Yosemite on either my iMac or my MBPro?
If I install VM Fusion or Parallels, does Windows run all the time? How does that affect computer performance? and how much do I need to worry about hard drive corruption?
Current versions of Fusion and Parallels are compatible with Yosemite. Both are applications which you only run when you want to run Windows within them. As such, there's no effect on computer performance when they're not in use. Like any other software, there is some additional load on your Mac when both Windows and the Mac OS are running together, but any noticeable effect depends on what each is being expected to do and what resources (e.g. available RAM and the number of CPU cores) you can devote to each.
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Microsoft no longer supports XP, though virus signature updates are still being issued. But MS has installed a pop-up message about EOL that won't go away (it's installed with KB2934207). Even if you remove that KB in Add and Remove Software, the pop-up continues. But if you have a Snapshot or a backup which is prior to it's original installation, you can skip installing KB2934207, and suppress it's reappearance on a Software Update list.

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I didn't notice any major heat issues with the Penryn MacBook Pro while doing this, but I didn't want the hard drive to break either. Plus, the wireless backup just takes way too long. I can't run an N only network because I have older AirPort expresses (WDS), older G clients in the house, and some iPhones that need to get online. I understand that 802.11g is slower than N, but it's way too slow for wireless backups.

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I have a macbook pro 10.6.8 system. My hard drive was replaced under warranty. Since then, my computer runs hot. The original hard drive never ran hot. What would cause the new hard drive to run hot?

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racergirl,
have you tried resetting your MacBook Pro’s System Management Controller, to see if that makes a difference with the heat?

I currently have a MAC Mini, which has 1 Firewire 800 port. I have a 1TB external hard disk that runs at Firewire 400. Can I insert another external hard drive that runs at Firewire 800?

Here's the deal. Currently running SL 10.6.8 on a MAC Mini. Planning for eventual upgrade to ML. Have a 1TB external hard drive partitioned into two volumes, one volume for Time Machine and one volume for SL which I periodically update using Superduper. Thus I always have a point-in-time bootable backup on the external hard drive.
The MAC Mini supports Firewire 800. However, booting from my current external hard disk is pretty slow, since it only supports Firewire 400. I am considering buying an Iomega MiniMax which supports Firewire 800. Then, I would use the MiniMax as my bootable backup volume, and relegate the older hard drive to Time Machine.
So, question #1 is, can I daisychain the new MiniMax between the MAC Mini and my existing external hard drive? My expectation is that the new Mini Max would run using Firewire 800 and that the existing hard drive would run at Firewire 400 speed as it does today. If it doesn't (e.g., daisychaining in the Firewire 400 external disk with the MiniMax Firewire 800 external disk ends up running the whole leg at 400), my resolution will be to run the existing hard disk off an available USB port and have just the MiniMax running at Firewire 800.
Why am I going to all this trouble? That's question #2. I don't trust upgrades; they always break something. When I upgraded from 10.5.x to 10.6.x, the web directories got renamed, and all of my web apps 403'd until I figured out what happened. Plus, I have accounts for other family members, and in order to ensure their ability to use the computer during my upgrade process, I need to have the ability to fall-back quickly to a known-stable version of OSX. So what I'm trying to do is insulate myself from problems by partitioning the MiniMax into two volumes, taking a Superduper image of my current installation on the Mac Mini to MiniMax external drive volume 1, then upgrading to ML on the MAC Mini, and take a SuperDuper image of that to MiniMax external drive volume 2. Then, if the upgrade results in problems I can't resolve immediately, I can simply reimage the MAC Mini from MiniMax volume 1. BUT ...
... I've read that the ML installation creates a "service and support" partition that is different than the startup disk. I'm concerned that I won't be able to reimage the hard disk in the MAC Mini once I upgrade it to ML because of the partitioning changes it introduces on the startup disk. Theoretically, I +should+ be able to use the disk utility on my SL system to repartition the disk in the MAC Mini prior to reimaging it from my backup, but I'm considering the possibility that the new partition may be of a type that the SL disk utility cannot identify, and might therefore be unable to delete or even detect. So I'm hoping someone else has been down this road and can advise me. Even at Firewire 800 speeds, booting from an external disk is still going to be slow, so I want to be able to restore my SL image to the MAC Mini hard disk.
A little background on me. I work for a major disaster recovery provider. I used to have a Mac PRO G5, which I got used, and the first thing I did with it was install a second hard disk, SuperDupe an image from the first disk to the second, and made sure I could boot from the second. THEN I started using and customizing the MAC. I really feel vulnerable with the MAC Mini, since it only has the single internal hard drive - sort of like going out in public dressed only in a long T-shirt. So my whole thing is, I ABSOLUTELY MUST BE ABLE TO PUT THINGS BACK THE WAY THEY WERE before I do the migration to ML.
Obsessive-cumpulsive? Yep. Anal? You got it. That's why I'm in the DR business.

You may have overloaded the port, following the instructions below it should reset:
+1. Shut down the computer.+
+2. Disconnect all devices and all other cables, except the keyboard and mouse cable(s).+
+3. Disconnect the computer from the power outlet and wait for 3 to 5 minutes.+
+4. Plug the computer back in and turn it on.+
+5. Reconnect the device(s) (one at a time if there is more than one) and test. Test with each port if you have more than one.+
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1317?viewlocale=en_US

Mac Pro 3,1 - did my hard drive die? And what should I replace it with?

Hi,
I inherited my late husband's 2008 Mac Pro (3,1 model) which had 2 x 500GB hard drives in it and 6GB of RAM. I filled the remaining hard drive bays with 1TB drives (I take a lot of video so needed the extra space). The boot drive was partitioned 50/50 in Boot Camp. I've upgraded the RAM to 10GB and I am currently running Lion.
Today, while doing something as innocuous as scrolling down a web page, the bottom half of my screen went black and the top half began flashing wildly. When it stopped after several seconds, the mouse would not respond and I could not click on anything. If flashed a bit more, and then I had mouse control back but could not click on anything - web links, applications, finder. After waiting patiently but getting nowhere, I powered the machine down manually, and when I re-started it, it failed to boot. The chime sounded, the apple appeared, and the little revolving wheel, but at the point where the screen would normally go blue then display the desktop, it just went white. The fans spin, but otherwise it's very silent.
I tested with a second display, got the same issue. I tried booting to recovery mode but it went back to the white screen. I could start in target mode, and there were no issues with flickering screen, so I don't think it's the graphics card. Then I tried browsing to the hard drive over the network, but it wasn't showing on the PC network page, nor could I connect to it via the home theater system, which I can normally do as the streaming app launches on start-up. I am assuming this means the drive has failed? It's the original, and we bought the machine when they were new to the market, so is a good 5 years old. It contains not only the boot drive but my documents, photos, websites, selected videos, all of which are backed up on the Time Capsule, and I was in the process of uploading to cloud backup as well (although not very far along, due to data cap and slow international upload speeds). I had no warning it was about to do this, but then I guess sometimes you don't!
Assuming I need to replace the drive, would it be worth replacing it with an OWC Mercury Electra 480GB SSD in an Icy Dock sled? Or would that be overkill for such an old machine? Would getting a standard 7200 WD Caviar HDD or similar give me enough of a speed boost? Obviously I am rather enamoured with the idea of a blazing fast SSD but I'd have to import it (not available locally) so I don't want to shell out all that money unless it's really going to make a massive difference.
Is there anything else I would need to know about using an SSD over a HDD? I assume I would fire it up the normal way - install it, boot from my Snow Leopard install disc (I downloaded Lion from the App Store) format it, clean install SL, then re-update to Lion, then restore my Time Machine backup? Am I likely to experience any weird issues due to it being an SSD? I see talk online of firmware problems and something called TRIM that I don't know anything about. If it's most likely that I can install it and rock on as normal, then I'm pretty keen, but if there's a reasonable probability of it being temperamental, I probably wouldn't be willing to deal with that (and therefore go the HDD route instead). Therefore I am very keen to hear people's opinions and experiences.
Sorry for the terribly long ramble. The more I have researched this, the more questions it raises! All advice gratefully accepted. Thanks!

more than likely it is your video card. If it is ATI 2600XT, tell it bye-bye. The card is barely used at all in TDM or Safe Boot Mode. The 2600 and Lion and the issues with that card, even if it seems okay, is not.
Depending on Windows OS as to how it mounts and sees your Lion HFSX (there is a nice HFSX driver from Paragon, and an NTFS driver for Lion too)
480GB SSD is overkill for any system unless you are pushing CS6 2-3GB images and then for scratch. All you need for a boot drive is about 100GB.
If you have an SSD now, then 1) you need to do a full image backup and restore (regularly as maintenance), and 2) TRIM Enabler
Save Lion and you can always do a clean Lion install w/o going back to SL - but you might want to keep SL (dual boot) and handy if you run into anything you still need that required PowerPC/Rosetta
FBDIMM RAM dies, Amazon has $32 kits of 4GB. And having all 8 DIMM slots filled improves things. If you need or want to and feel 16GB isn't overkill.
SSD and issues are always possible. you should not just go along. not without a clone image. And you should have another drive w/ TRIM Enabler so that you can do a repair and "trim" what is needed.
Clone a system with CCC regularly. Bootable. And can also be used by Setup Assistant.
Install Lion over a heavily used SL system and there are likely remnants of old things that get in the way and left in there and not removed.

What are the symptons of macbook pro hard drive not running fast enough

what are the symptons of the hard drive not running fast enough

Physically the drive will be as fast as any other of its class, and if not then it's experiencing a mechanical issue that should prompt a warning or two in the system, especially if you use a drive management tool like Disk Utility that checks the drive's built-in "S.M.A.R.T." diagnostics.
As for "logical speed," if there are bad blocks on the drive where sectors cannot be read or written to because of a breakdown of the storage medium, then this can result in a program or the entire system crashing or hanging (generally the latter is the case), where it usually pauses for a number of seconds at a time. This is usually accompanied by messages that state "I/O Error" or other similar warning in the OS X Console (in the Applications > Utilities folder).
Beyond this, drive formatting errors such as might happen after a crash or power outage can result in similar hang-like behavior, though this is usually not as distinct of a hanging behavior as is seen with bad blocks.
Finally, if the drive is simply full of files or highly fragmented (not as much of a problem in OS X, but it can happen), then this can reduce access time for reading and writing files, and prevent the system from optimizing the use of RAM, which can result in overall slowdowns. Heavy drive use can also cause similar bottlenecks, but this is ususally only an intermittent issue during a time when you are performing a heavy file transfer or copying process, or other task that occupies access to the drive's index and formatting (e.g., if you check it for errors with Disk Utility, then you may see the system pause or slow down during the check).

Hard drive recently failed and iPhoto brings a -36 error when copying need help accessing image files

I recently updated my computer to mountain lion and after doing so my computer would no longer boot up. I took it to the apple store and they told me that the hard drive was damaged and needed to be replaced. They were booting my computer with an external drive and in doing so could access my computers HDD. Upon starting to drag and drop files to a new hard drive I started to get a lot of -36 errors. I proceeded to go go,e and create my own bootable thumb drive and try doing the same process with more time to look through it. I have up till now been able to copy most of my files but have run into a problem with iPhoto.
I have been searching around for a while now and have yet to find a method that helps me in my particular situation so I am now asking for help myself. I will explain what my current system of file recovery is and see if anyone can help me out.
I have since then replaced the HDD in my computer and purchased a SATA external HDD enclosure for the original drive. This allows me to still access all files and folders from the original drive. I have managed to recover a majority of the files but have recently run into a problem with the iPhoto library. Every time I try to drag and drop the iPhoto library to my new HDD it fails after "transferring" 2.02GB and tells me it has encountered a -36 error because some files cannot be read or written. I believe I am using iPhoto '09, I will check and confirm that later.
I am looking for a way to open iPhoto's library and access the image files it seems to be hiding from me. Please understand that I cannot open the iPhoto library either, I have lost access to the library entirely and want to see if there are any image files that I can save. I dont have the computer backed up recently and want to save my photos. Thanks for looking and I'm hoping someone can help.

Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In Library Manager it's the FIle -> Rebuild command). Rebuild it to the Pictures Folder. This might overcome the -36 issue.
(This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.)
Failing that you're into recovering your Originals from the damaged Library and creating a new Library and starting over from scratch.
Regards
TD

Hard drive constantly running and ruining battery life

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